"The techniques
of brainwashing developed in totalitarian countries are routinely used
in psychological conditioning programs imposed on American school children.
These include emotional shock and desensitization... stripping away
defenses... and inducing acceptance of alternative values...."[2]
Thomas Sowell

Throughout history,
"tolerance" has meant different things to different people. A century
ago, most Americans would have defined it as civility toward disagreeable
persons, not as acceptance of contrary views. In contrast, today's "tolerance"
demands acceptance of politically correct views but intolerance toward
those who prefer "traditional" values. While media leaders feel free
to mock Christians, believers are losing their freedom to state their
convictions. After all, they might hurt someone's feelings.

This transformation
didn't "just happen." During the 20th century, socialist visionaries
redefined tolerance and began using it as an effective weapon against
Biblical values. Trained facilitators (in schools, government, corporations
and churches) began turning cultural norms upside down -- then held
the masses accountable to the new cultural guidelines. NEA
leader, Professor Raymond Houghton, summarized the deception in
1970,

"...absolute
behavior control is imminent.... The critical point of behavior control,
in effect, is sneaking up on mankind without his self-conscious realization
that a crisis is at hand. Man will... never self-consciously know that
it has happened."[3]

Tucker had followed
the footsteps of mind-changing behavioral "scientists" such as Herbert
Marcuse, a transformational Marxist trained in the "inner circle" at
the revolutionary
Frankfurt Institute for Social Research in pre-war Germany. With
Hitler's rise to power, that "inner circle" fled to America. In 1934,
Marcuse, called "the father of political correctness," joined other
socialist change agents at Columbia University, where they built on
the liberal foundation laid by John
Dewey. Years later, Marcuse wrote the report, Repressive
Tolerance, which exposed his oppressive Communist goals:

"The
uncertainty of chance... necessitates tolerance. However, this tolerance
cannot be indiscriminate and equal... it cannot protect false words
and wrong deeds which demonstrate that they contradict and counteract
the' possibilities of liberation.... Such indiscriminate tolerance is
justified in harmless debates.... But society cannot be indiscriminate...
where freedom and happiness themselves are at stake: here, certain things
cannot be said, certain ideas cannot be expressed, certain policies
cannot be proposed, certain behavior cannot be permitted without making
tolerance an instrument for the continuation of servitude."[1]

Marcuse became
a hero to the revolutionary student movements during the chaotic sixties.
Now, forty years later, we see the fruit of his labor: moral corruption
and intolerance toward traditional values. Facing these painful consequences,
Kevin, a young Christian, sent us this note:

"On
my school bus kids would like to sing rap songs that includes a lot
of profanity and perversion.... Liberals, gays and others say we Christians
are intolerant when they are intolerant themselves. One time my seventh
grade teacher said those who say God forbids or hates homosexuality
are racists!"

Few of today's
results-driven churches will take their stand with believers like Kevin.
Inspired by "successful" leaders like Rick Warren, churches -- like
the corporate world -- now wield their new "tolerance" like a whip with
which to intimidate resisters who still cling to Biblical certainties
and intolerant-sounding truths. After all, such "lone rangers" hinder
today's collective march toward the envisioned earthly kingdom of universal
peace and solidarity.

In his popular
book, The
Secret Message of Jesus, Pastor Brian
McLaren seems to echo Marcuse. "...to be truly inclusive,"
he writes, "the kingdom must exclude exclusive people, to be truly
reconciling, the kingdom must not reconcile with those who refuse reconciliation....
[T]he kingdom of God is open to all, except those who want to ruin it
by dividing it against itself."[5]

THE CHANGEABLE
NATURE OF TOLERANCE

Tolerance is never
neutral. Its boundaries keep changing -- often through self-serving
governments that mandate public values through state-controlled religious
hierarchies. Using various forms of propaganda and discipline, powerful
establishments have turned public intolerance against foes
of the planned solidarity.

Take the British
monarchy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The shameless Henry VIII
replaced Catholicism with the Church of England (Anglican) when the
Pope refused to approve his first divorce (Henry beheaded three of his
six wives). After his death and the short reign of his sickly son, the
throne went to his Catholic daughter (Bloody) Mary I. She restored the
Papal hierarchy and showed her intolerance for dissenters by burning
them on the stake. When she died in 1558, her Anglican sister, Elizabeth
I, became queen.

While Mary had
persecuted Protestants, Elizabeth persecuted those who refused to conform
to the Church of England. After her death in 1603, King James I (already
the reigning King of Scotland) gained the British throne and joined
the two nations. James formalized the rituals of the Church of England
and had no tolerance for protestant Separatists who sought a simpler
form of worship. Seeking religious freedom, these Puritans
fled to Holland. Pursued even there, they boarded the Mayflower for
America in 1620.

King Charles I,
son of James I, was executed for treason in 1649, and the throne stood
empty for almost three decades. In 1662, the British Parliament passed
the Act of Uniformity, mandating religious conformity with the ritual
practices of the Church of England. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Puritans
(like John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress) who followed their
Bible-trained conscience, were labeled "non-conformists." Non-conforming
pastors who continued preaching faced persecution.

In 1677, James'
grandson, Charles II, was crowned king. The persecution of dissenters
quickly intensified. Among those who faced torture and "death by hanging"
was a young maidservant, Marion Harvie. As she prepared to climb the
scaffold, her final words showed her faith in Jesus, her Lord:

"Because
He lives, I shall live also.... How I bless Him that thoughts of death
are not terrible to me. He hath made me as willing to lay down my life
for Him as ever I was willing to live in this world.... Seek Him and
ye shall find Him. I sought Him and found Him; I held Him and would
not let Him go."[6]

Relief came in
1689 when the British Parliament passed The Act of Toleration, granting
limited freedom to dissenters.

The Christians
who fled to America during this time had seen the dangers of government-controlled
religion. A century later, the religious freedom they sought became
a legal promise through the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

But that freedom
is now fading fast. Once again, government mandates and the tool of
"tolerance" threaten our freedom. But today's leaders are far more subtle
and sophisticated than British rulers were centuries ago. Armed with
the latest psycho-social
strategies, postmodern revolutionaries are facilitating a mass consensus
aimed to silence any opposition.

Today's public
values show the results. Since I write reviews of popular entertainment
(usually in response to questions from concerned parents), I get lots
of angry letters. It matters little that I have tried to be kind and
factual in my reviews -- or that I criticize the message rather than
a person -- zealous defenders of popular entertainment have little tolerance
for contrary views. Notice the emphasis on feelings rather than facts
in the following
comments:

Unfortunately
people like you guys actually do exist... While reading one of your
many articles on Harry Potter for a class on censorship, I came to
realize that religious fundamentalism is dangerous and maniacal no
matter what religion it is. You guys are on par with muslims....

Hate
and fear peddlers is all you are. You're no worse than the KKK.

You
are intolerant bumbling fools.... There is nothing wrong with pokemon....
Live a nice life and die.

...your
opinions are every bit as dangerous as those expressed by so-called
"hate" groups.... Star Wars is just a movie, Pokemon is just a card
game, and Christianity is just a belief. ... The most disturbing part
about your articles is the vast number of "weak minded" individuals
who blindly follow your beliefs, accepting your irrational way of
thinking.

I
can't believe there are actually idiots like you on this planet! You
people REALLY scare me....

I often ask such
visitors if they would want to outlaw websites like ours. Many answer
"Yes." They don't believe we have the right to share our "offensive"
views publicly. Instead, they claim the right not to be offended by
inconvenient facts or logic.

OUR RESPONSE
TO AN INTOLERANT WORLD

If we can't stop
the transformation, how should we relate to this strange, new world?
How can we love those who hate our values?

There's a clue
in Proverbs 15:1. It reminds us that "a soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger." It's true! When I replied with kindness,
many would send back grateful -- even apologetic -- responses. The subsequent
correspondence didn't include Hegelian
Dialogue as a means to consensus. Instead, the angry expressions
became opportunities to show God's love -- without compromise!

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America's "traditional
values" may be vanishing, but some things never change: human
nature, God's timeless Truth,
and His all-sufficient strength.
Human nature may be driving this social and spiritual transformation.
But God and His Word enable us to stand firm in the midst of this raging
battle.

"Thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord...." 1 Corinthians 15:56

Footnotes:

1,
Herbert Marcuse, Repressive
Tolerance, 19652,
Thomas Sowell, Ph.D., "Indoctrinating the Children," Forbes, February
1, 1993), 65.3,
Raymond Houghton, To Nurture Humaneness, ASCD (curriculum arm of the
NEA), 1970.4,
Marc Tucker, "How We Plan to Do It," Proposal to the New American School
Development Corporation: National Center for Education and the Economy,
July 9, 1992. See Tucker
Plan Includes Cradle Control.5,
Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that
Could Change Everything (Nashville: Thomas Nelson's W Publishing Group,
2006), pages 169-170. See also Who
defines the Kingdom of God?6,
Michael and Sharon Rustin, The One Year Book of Christian History (Tyndale
House Publishers, 2003), page 52-53.

Berit
Kjos is a widely respected researcher, writer and conference speaker.
A frequent guest on national radio and television programs, Kjos has been
interviewed on Point of View (Marlin Maddoux), The 700 Club, Bible Answer
Man, Beverly LaHaye Live, Crosstalk and Family Radio Network. She has
also been a guest on "Talk Back Live" (CNN) and other secular
radio and TV networks. Her last two books are A Twist of Faith and
Brave New Schools.Kjos
Ministries Web Site: http://www.crossroad.to/index.html

During
the 20th century, socialist visionaries redefined tolerance and began
using it as an effective weapon against Biblical values. Trained facilitators
(in schools, government, corporations and churches) began turning cultural
norms upside down -- then held the masses accountable to the new cultural
guidelines.